Double Agent
by garbygal
Summary: Amanda has a secret hidden weapon that she's going to put into Division to prove to Percy and the others that Birkhoff is working with Nikita.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

It was a bright and sunny day in New York, not something Macy was used to. As she rushed down the street towards her next appointment, she smiled at the warmth of the sun hitting her face. Her chestnut hair fell to her shoulders and blew behind her as she walked she kept her head down as she walked- she was a little heavier and less pretty than the other girls and it made her shy and self-conscious. As she walked briskly down the street the chiming of a cell phone suddenly got her attention.

Normally a ringing cell phone would not cause a chill up her spine, but this one did. In a secret compartment of her purse, Macy hid a burner cellphone. It had been her secret for three years now and until now; she had never heard it ring. Stopping and pulling the phone from her purse, she stood in an alley entrance to answer the phone. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Macy answered the phone "Macy Daniels."

"Hi Macy." Macy's stomach turned as soon as the silky voice greeted her. She had never liked the woman and three years without her voice was not nearly enough. "It's Amanda."

"Hi. To what do I owe this call?" Macy asked.

"I was wondering if you have time for coffee. I have an opportunity to discuss with you."

Macy knew this opportunity wasn't really going to be an opportunity- it was going to her getting reactivated for an op. "Sure." She answered, knowing Amanda would not take anything but a yes or else she would be dead where she stood.

"Meet me at Javahouse at 2:00 PM." Amanda told her.

"I will see you," Macy glanced at her watch, "in 45 minutes."

"Bye." Amanda hung up.

Macy stared at the phone, and then put it back into her purse, back in a safe place. Immediately she was curious what Amanda could want. For three years Macy had lived a normal life, undercover as a sleeper agent. She knew at any time she could be pulled for a mission, but it was pretty surprising to get a call after three years. Macy headed to the coffee shop knowing she did not have enough time to do anything before she met Amanda.

Getting a coffee, Macy made herself comfortable in a booth near the back of the store, knowing Amanda would need the cover. She was only there about twenty minutes before the silky voice greeted her again. "Macy, prompt as always."

Macy looked up as Amanda slid into the seat across from her. "Nice to see you again."

Amanda returned her smile. "And you." She replied. "Your extended cover seems to have been suiting you well."

"I have been managing." Macy replied.

"I called you here to give you an assignment." Amanda got down to business.

Pulling a file out of her bag, she unclipped a picture and slid it across the table to Macy. Glancing at the photo, Macy saw a young man, scruffy-looking with a beard and long blond hair. Macy guessed he was in his early thirties. Taking a sip of her coffee, she asked, "So who is this?"

"His name is BIrkhoff. Seymour." She answered, taking a drink of her coffee.

"Who's Seymour Birkhoff?"

"He's our technician at Division. Recently he has had some contact with an enemy of ours. Seymour claims that she assaulted him, but I think they may be working together, because she still has access to our information."

"Division is surveilling him then- what do you need me for?" Macy was confused.

"They are not." Amanda sat back in the booth. "Percy has chosen to believe Birkhoff, but I am not that easy. I am acting on my own." Amanda locked eyes with Macy. "That's why I am using you."

"Because nobody knows me." Macy finished Amanda's thought.

"Exactly." Amanda smiled. "Just as smart as I remember." Amanda replied.

"How am I going to get in with him? I get the feeling he is in Division a lot- and you don't exactly encourage relationships." Macy was trying to figure out what angle Amanda was going to use.

"We're going to lift that restriction- to him- as a reward." Amanda replied. "I have convinced Percy to hire a new tech. You'll work directly with Birkhoff. Since you are not a recruit, he will be allowed to touch."

Rolling her eyes, Macy replied, "Do you really think that a guy is going to go for me?"

Amana laughed. "Oh trust me. Birkhoff will be more than happy to look at you."

"So when do we start?" Macy asked.

"Right now." Amanda replied as Macy started to feel drowsy.

"Really?" Macy couldn't believe it. Amanda must have someone working in the store. "You drugged me?"

She started to fight her eyelids drooping. "I have to get you in somehow." Amanda shrugged as Macy fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

When Macy woke, she still felt groggy. Whatever it was that Amanda had given her was slowly leaving her system. Slowly Macy sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. The room was plain, just a simple bed and desk. Someone hopefully Amanda had changed her into dark grey sweatpants and a white tank top. Slowly she stood up, swaying a little from the effects of the drug. As she got her bearings, the door opened. A handsome man, short blond hair, dressed in a perfect navy suit came in. "Hi Macy." He greeted her with a smile. "My name is Michael and I work for the government. We are giving you a second chance."

Keeping an even smile as not to alert Michael, on the inside Macy grinned. Remembering Amanda's training about Division, she knew by Michael's speech that she had been entered into Division just like any other new recruit- as a rescue from prison. Whenever she had a chance to ask Amanda, she would have to ask her how she pulled it off. "Nice to meet you. Where am I?" Macy asked.

"This," Michael looked around the room, "Is called Division. We serve our government and that's what we'll be teaching you to do."

Feeling dizzy, Macy sat down on the bed. "Ok." Macy acknowledged. "How does this work"

"We have athletic trainers, computer classes, and language classes, everything you'll need to know to fulfill our missions."

"What about my past?" Macy recalled the question Amanda wanted her to ask.

"We took care of that." Michael held open a manila folder with a picture of a mausoleum. "That is your grave. Officially you were stabbed by your cellmate over some cookies."

Macy's face scrunched. "Getting creative?" she asked.

Michael chuckled. "I know it sounds silly, but every recruit has to be killed before coming in, and they can't all be the same."

"Okay." Macy nodded her head in understanding. "When do I start?"

"Eager, that's a good sign." Michael gave her a friendly smile. "You report to Amanda, our guidance counselor of sorts. She will assess you to see what is best."

"Until then?" Macy questioned.

"Why don't I show you around?" Michael suggested.

An hour later, after a tour of the training room, the computer lab, the cafeteria and all the other important rooms, Michael dropped off Macy at Amanda's office door. While she hadn't seen Seymour Birkhoff, her target, she did see and make note of the location of his office. As Michael walked away down the hall, Macy tentatively knocked on Amanda's office door. It cracked open and Amanda peaked through at her. "Hi Macy, come in! You're right on time."

Macy looked over Amanda's office as she entered. She wasn't surprised to find it dressed to-the-nines, with only the best furniture- and a beautiful red leather couch. "Have a seat." Amanda gestured towards it.

Sitting on the couch, Macy waited as Amanda took a seat across from her in a matching red leather chair. "So how are you feeling?"

"Okay." Macy replied, rubbing her head, "A little groggy."

Amanda smiled. "That happens with the medication I drugged you with."

"So how did you get me in here?"

"What do you mean?" Amanda crossed her legs.

"Well, I wasn't in prison."

"Ah," Amanda smiled, "I told them you were a fugitive that was close to being caught by the FBI. By the time I got there, you were in jail, which is where you were killed. I impersonated an FBI agent coming to pick you up before the real FBI showed up."

"Okay. Just wanted to understand the background." Macy replied.

"Always prepared. Why I picked you for this job." Amanda replied.

Macy rubbed her head, still slightly groggy from the medication. "I thought I wasn't a recruit." Macy commented to Amanda.

"Only way that I could get you in." Amanda replied, "I'm sure it's not the only time we'll have to adjust our plans. You will be a recruit, but make sure that you do very well at the computers. They are going to assign you to tech and Birkhoff, but it has to be believable, so you have to show your skills in that area."

"Of course."

Amanda took a drink of tea, and then put it on the coffee table between them. Then she explained, "To get around the relationship issue, I am going to give Birkhoff an assignment to practice his seduction techniques for use in the field. We've identified you as his practice target. He doesn't know that you know what is going on. I told him to have a real relationship to practice being in one and to realize what things he needs to do to fake one, so he will know what to do."

"I guess that makes sense." Macy was a little unsure about how much pretending was going to be going on.

"After he gets attached to you, I will be compassionate and allow you two to date, as long as the other recruits don't know what is going on."

Macy looked at Amanda. "When do you expect that to happen?"

"Well," Amanda laughed, "I know better than to predict Birkhoff's technique to try to figure out a timeline- it may take him awhile. A month. Maybe two."

"Anything else I should know going in?" Macy wanted to be fully prepared.

"Nope. Whatever Birkhoff doesn't tell you himself, I will let you know." Amanda took a tablet off of the table beside her chair. "This tablet has information loaded about Birkhoff on it. Don't let him see it. Bring it with you when you come to see me so I can give you any updates you need on it. I can't make it wireless; Birkhoff would see it in the network, so I'll have to do manual updates here. The other recruits can't see it either, because you are not normally allowed to have anything with a hard drive."

Macy nodded in understanding. "Alright. So now what should I be doing?"

Turning over her wrist, Amanda stared at the gold watch on her wrist. "Well, it's 4:00 PM, so the other recruits will be in class with Birkhoff. I'll take you down there, and you'll get to meet Birkhoff."


	3. Chapter 3

Macy was nervous as Amanda walked her down towards the computer lab. She was nervous about the whole thing- every part of the mission- being an agent, seducing someone to spy on him, but Macy knew she owed Amanda her life and she had to do what she asked. As they continued walking, Macy found herself daydreaming about what he would be like and the relationship they would have. She just hoped that her imagination wasn't too far from the truth.

As they opened the door, Macy realized it was a lot different seeing a picture and meeting someone in person. Birkhoff was standing at the front of the class. He was wearing the blue jeans, a t-shirt and a baggy blue sweatshirt over top. His hair was longer than the picture, barely above his shoulder, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a few weeks. "You guys better not screw this up again!" he shouted at the class. "This is not that hard, you should be able to do this in your sleep!"

He turned from the class and saw Amanda and Macy in the doorway. Walking over, he said, "Hi Amanda." The disgust for Amanda clear.

"Birkhoff," Amanda ignored his tone, "This is our newest recruit, Macy. I've just briefed her and now she is ready to join the others."

Macy watched as Birkhoff looked her over. The frown on his face gave her a bad feeling, but with her size and weight that didn't surprise her- she wasn't a looker. She'd have her work cut out for her since he didn't seem to find her attractive. She also found herself surprised by his size- he was a lot shorter than she'd expected, but he was still taller than her by a couple inches, even with her in heels. With a scowl, Birkhoff pointed at a computer without even making eye contact with Macy. "Over there Mandy." He told her as he headed over to his desk at the front of the room.

"It's Macy." She replied, heading to the desk that he had pointed out.

"Whatever." He replied, putting his feet up on his desk.

Mac logged on the computer. Some of the other recruits peeked at her- all of them were about the same age as her. There were boys and girls of all sizes and nationalities. The program they were working on wasn't too difficult, so Macy managed to get it pulled up and started working on it herself. It was only five minutes before she had caught up and passed the other recruits. She figured if she got done she would get Birkhoff's attention with her hacker skills and that would be a good thing. With a few more commands she hacked the program.

A beep on his tablet got Birkhoff's attention. He picked it up and looked up briefly at Macy, then down on his tablet. He stood up and walked to Macy's station, checking her computer. "How did you do that" he asked her.

"Was it supposed to be hard?" she tried to draw his ire.

Birkhoff finally made eye contact with Macy and she shivered at his intense glare. "Well how about that. The newbie came in late and still beat you." Birkhoff shouted again at the recruits. "It's not that hard! Out! All of you!"

Macy stood to leave and Birkhoff held up his hand to stop her. Once all the other recruits had left, Birkhoff turned to her, brushing his hair behind his left ear. "So how did you learn to do that?" he asked her.

Looking into his eyes, Macy was momentarily transfixed by his gorgeous blue eyes. "Computers are my specialty." Macy replied, shaking her head to snap out of her momentary fixation.

"Specialty?" she could tell Birkhoff was not quite sure what she meant by that.

"I went to school for computers. Spent a lot of time with other students seeing what we could hack. Tried to outdo Shadow Walker."

The flash in Birhoff's eyes when she mentioned Shadow Walker gave Macy another piece of information. "You were Shadow Walker?" she asked him.

"That's the rumor." He replied.

Macy laughed. "I guess I owe some of my training to you then."

Birkhoff's slight grin made Macy excited she had found something to relate to him which would only make her job easier. "Well then I guess I will have to make things more difficult for you. Don't want any slackers." Birkhoff replied.

"Fine by me." She tried to give him a friendly smile, but he ignored it. She could tell Birkhoff was a closed book and it would be difficult to get in. Hopefully by the time Amanda put her plan into place for Birkhoff to practice seduction on her; things would work out between them. "I love a challenge." She added.

"Then I will make sure to give you one." Birkhoff's glare startled her. She wasn't sure why he disliked her, but it was clear he did not think much of her. "Get going to the gym. The other recruits will be working out."

Macy left the room, but hesitated in the hall to observe Birkhoff to see if she could get an idea on what was going on. She knew her luck was working when Michael entered the computer lab from the back. "Hey Birkhoff." Michael greeted him.

"Michael." Birkhoff sat at his computer, taking a huge gulp of his energy drink

"How was class?" Michael questioned.

Birkhoff sighed. "I don't know where you found these recruits. They don't have a clue."

"Did the new recruit come down? I know she had been working with Amanda."

Birkhoff scratched his head. "Mandy?"

Rolling his eyes, Michael replied, "Macy."

"Macy, right." Birkhoff swallowed more of his drink. "She was something. She caught up and was the only one to finish. She may actually be a decent agent. May need a little help in the beauty department for the seduction side, but she has a way with computers."

"Good." Michael replied. "Maybe, if she keeps it up we can put her in tech with you."

Birkhoff snorted. "You may have to. I think tech's going to be her thing if you know what I mean."

Macy bumped into a table next to the door causing Michael to look up and see her in the doorway. Birkhoff, caught up in his own world didn't notice. "Hey man, maybe you shouldn't be so rough on her."

"I'm sorry." Birkhoff said with a laugh, "But when I saw her, my first thought was that I thought beauty was a requirement for Division."

Macy felt the tears burn on her cheeks. She wanted to be strong, but the cocky tech was hitting all of the soft spots in Macy's armor. She moved into the doorway so it would be easy for Birkhoff to see how his words hurt. "Birkhoff!" Michael shoved Birkhoff's chair with his foot, forcing him to look up and see Macy in the doorway as she rushed away once his eyes met hers. Birkhoff groaned.

"Great job Birkhoff." Michael said, walking away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Macy rushed back to her room, throwing herself onto her bed. She hated the fact that he hit all her soft spots, but she hated even more that she let it get to her and that Michael and Birkhoff saw her that way. It wasn't entirely surprising when she heard footsteps come up to the door and the door opened. "Macy?" she heard Michael's voice.

"It's okay." She said, staying rolled over on her left side, her back to Michael.

"No." Michael replied, sitting behind Macy on her bed. "We don't welcome people to Division that way. What Birkhoff said was rude and completely inappropriate."

"Then why isn't he here apologizing?" Macy replied.

"Birkhoff has his own rules." Michael replied. "As much as I agree he should be here, he isn't."

Somehow that didn't surprise Macy. Someone who could that freely make the kind of comments he did wasn't the kind of person who followed the rules. "He just told me how he really feels. I guess I can't blame him for that." Macy replied.

"It was still inappropriate. I will talk to him about it."

"Okay." Macy knew it probably wouldn't do much good, but if it made Michael feel better she didn't really care if he did it.

"What?" Birkhoff snorted with a laugh.

"You heard me the first time." Amanda calmly replied, taking a sip of her tea.

"You want me not only to practice seduction for God-knows what reason, but you also want me to practice on the one girl I cannot stand." Birkhoff leaned back against the back of the couch.

"Cannot stand?" Amanda was amused. "You just met her. And Michael tells me you gave her a less than enthusiastic welcome."

Birkhoff rolled his eyes. "She wasn't supposed to hear that."

"But you said it." Amanda replied. "And she heard it. Anyway, you are an agent here, and Percy has requested we train you more in that area."

"On her?" Birkhoff replied. "It has to be her?"

"If you dislike her it will be an even better challenge and practice. Just make sure you don't tell her what is going on."

"And if I disagree? If I refuse?"

Amanda gave Birkhoff her patented smirk. "You know the rules. You don't do it- cancellation. You'd better start sucking up to her now."

Rolling his eyes again, Birkhoff leaned forward, rubbing his hands in front of him. "Great." He replied.

"It could be worse. From what I've talked to her, she seems like a nice girl." Amanda smugly replied, taking another sip from her tea.

"When do I start?" Birkhoff replied, the distaste in his voice clear.

"My suggestion?" Amanda replied, "I would start now. Probably by apologizing to her."

"Fine." Birkhoff snapped in reply, walking out of Amanda's office without another word.

With every step of his feet towards Macy's room he felt more upset. Sure, it wasn't Macy's fault this was happening- she couldn't help how she looked, but he figured that the beauty thing he could get over, since he was only practicing seduction on her. As he got closer to her room, Birkhoff was surprised when Michael brushed past him. "Birkhoff?" Michael greeted him in, equally surprised to run into him here.

"I came to apologize." He couldn't look Michael in the eye. He knew lying was another thing he would have to work on to get the seduction techniques down.

The surprise in Michael's eyes was obvious, but he didn't say anything other than, "Fair warning, she is pretty pissed at you."

"That doesn't surprise me." Birkhoff replied.

"Well, good luck." Michael nodded at Birkhoff heading down the hall.

Birkhoff snorted in contempt. He couldn't believe after al he had done for Division that they would treat him this way- put him in this position. Clearing his throat, Birkhoff headed to her door. Hesitantly he knocked on her door gently. Holding his breath, he waited for Macy to answer the door. When she opened the door, Birkhoff was greeted with a huge eye roll. "What do you want?"

As she went to shut the door, Birkhoff put his hand out to stop it. "I just want to apologize."

Macy turned away from the door but left it open, allowing Birkhoff to follow her into the room. He took that as an invitation and followed her into the room, shutting the door behind him. Macy sat down on her bed, her back to Birkhoff. "I'm really sorry." Birkhoff said.

There wasn't any response from Macy, she didn't even flinch. Sighing, Birkhoff walked around the bed. He tried to make eye contact with her, but she kept looking away. He had not realized how bad he had hurt her until just then. He crouched in front of her, putting his hands on her knees to balance himself. Macy finally made eye contact with him, but with a nasty glare, before quickly looking away

If anything else, Birkhoff was getting a good chance to work on his sympathy. It felt strange as he reached up and grasped her chin gently, turning her face back towards him. "Macy," he said, surprising her that he remembered her name correctly this time. She felt a shiver as he locked eyes with her, "I am really sorry. I've been having a bad day."

"Who can blame you?" Macy turned back away and quickly stood up. "What you said is true."

"Really Macy," Birkhoff plead, "I was out of line."

"I'm a fat, ugly girl!" she exploded, jumping off the bed. "It's the truth."

Birkhoff wasn't sure what to say. Even though he didn't find her attractive, he never meant to make her feel so bad. "C'mon Macy, do I look like a looker?" Do I look skinny?" Birkhoff had decided that relating to her might be his best chance.

"Nice try." Macy replied, "I don't believe you feel that way for a second."

"Hey Macy, I don't know what you want me to say." Birkhoff shouted in reply.

"Be yourself! Don't apologize when you don't mean it!" she exploded in pent up rage over all the people like Birkhoff in her past. "Obviously you don't find me attractive, fine. But then don't apologize for your feelings. And a little more diplomacy might be nice too."

Birkhoff walked over to where Macy was standing and took her hands, surprised when she didn't pull them away. He could tell she was fighting some kind of internal battle about those feelings along with the one over what Birkhoff had said. "Look at me!" Birkhoff commanded her. Once she finally looked into his eyes, he finished, "I should have never said it and you never should have heard it."

"I don't believe you." Macy replied, much calmer this time. "Get out!"

"Fine." Birkhoff stormed out.

He didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew he could not fail, because cancellation was not an option. As he walked back towards his office, Birkhoff scratched his head, trying to think of what he could do to get this girl to warm up to him. So far he'd tried every tool in his book, and he was going to have to come up with some new techniques to try to get her back. Wondering into his room, he shut the door behind him, heading out to the Internet to do some researching. With the all-nighter this was going to require, he was glad that he had restocked his supply of energy drinks and liquorish.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next morning Macy was finally getting the chance to meet the other recruits more closely. She headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. She was tired, having not slept much after the altercation with Birkhoff. Her confidence had been shaken and she wasn't sure how she was going to fulfill her mission, especially romancing someone who made awful remarks about her and then lied to her face in apology. Taking her tray from the server, Macy headed to a table on the far side of the room by herself. All the other recruits were around, excitedly talking about their missions and training.

After Birkhoff's comments and her so far lonely breakfast, Macy found herself pretty depressed. She knew that she wasn't the prettiest girl in the room and she had struggled with her weight for a long time. Since high school she had always been a loner, made fun of and she had worked years to overcome those experiences- yet the first new person in her life in years brought up the same old insecurities. "Macy!" one of the guard's harsh commands brought her out of her wallowing. When the guard saw he had her attention,, he continued, "Amanda would like to see you."

Taking a couple more spoonfuls of food, Macy stood up to head to Amanda's office. She was surprised that Amanda was sending for her so soon. Luckily it wasn't too long of a walk to Amanda's office so Macy didn't have very long to think about what Amanda could want. As she got to the office, she knocked on the door. "Come in." Amanda called.

As soon as she walked to Amanda's office, Macy could see what she wanted. Birkhoff sat on the couch. "Oh great." She mumbled to herself, sitting on the far end of the couch from Birkhoff.

"I'm glad you both could join me." Amanda sat on a chair across from them, crossing her legs. "I understand from Michael that you guys had a little bit of an altercation last night."

Birkhoff rubbed his forehead in annoyance and Macy rolled her eyes. "Yeah." Macy replied.

"So Birkhoff." Amanda sighed, sensing neither of them wanting to talk. "Tell me what happened."

"Really Birkhoff asked. "Do we need to rehash this. I already apologized."

Macy huffed. "If you called that an apology."

Amanda smiled, Macy could tell she was enjoying the drama. "Why don't you feel like he meant the apology"

"Because I could tell he meant the first comments." Macy argued. "Not so much the second."

"You just met me! How can you be so dismissive?" Birkhoff fired back.

"I've met a hundred people like you. You say what you think, damn the consequences." Macy replied, "Just like everyone I've always known."

"I'm sorry." Birkhoff said again. "How else am I supposed to say it."

"Mean it." Macy shouted back.

In one quick move, Birkhoff was across the couch. As Amanda got ready to call for security, she realized that Birkhoff was pulling Macy to him and kissing her gently. Macy's body was rigid in shock. Of all the things that Birkhoff could have done, kissing her was beyond the last thing that she would have expected him to do. Amanda wasn't sure if Birkhoff was trying to salvage his mission or what, but it was entertaining to say the least- especially when Macy's palm hit his cheek with a sickening thwack."

Macy sat back against the arm of the couch still in shock. She hadn't planned on slapping Birkhoff, but it had just happened. Birkhoff sat back, his hand covering his slapped cheek, and Amanda pinched the bridge of her nose, pretending to be stressed by the situation. "Obviously you two have some serious issues to work out." Amanda announced. "So Birkhoff, I am assigning Macy to you and the tech department as a specialty. I want you two to practice working together."

Birkhoff and Macy glared at each other. On the inside Macy was confused. She knew about Birkhoff's assignment to seduce her, but kissing her there made no sense. As much as she disliked the kiss on principle after everything that Birkhoff had said to her, she knew what her mission was, and even more, she had enjoyed the kiss. "So what?" Birkhoff asked Amanda, "I'm going to be like her mentor?"

"Exactly." Amanda replied. "Whenever you are not busy and the recruits don't have anything planned, I want to see her shadowing you. Once you teach her the Division basics, I want to see you task her during missions. Most of all, I want you two to work together peacefully."

"Should I take her back to my office now then?" Birkhoff looked for clarification. "The recruits don't have fitness until 09:00."

"Give her the tour." Amanda instructed him "And you two better get along- I don't have to remind you that failure means cancelation."

Macy wondered if she was referring to their current assignment to get along or if it was a subtle hint to each of them about their missions. Either way, Macy wasn't prepared to fail. As Birkhoff lead her towards his office to introduce Macy to their software, Macy tried to plot her next move. She didn't want to be too obvious as to alert Birkhoff that something was up, but she knew she had to start accomplishing her mission- Amanda was going to demand results.

Her first steps into Birkhoff's office were a surprise. There weren't many lights in the room, it was dark like a cave. In the corner of the room was a couch and what she assumed was Birkhoff's bed, buried under a mountain of blankets. 'At least that's something that I could relate to.' Macy thought to herself.

On the other side of the room was all of his technical equipment. Birkhoff had all of the newest equipment- some of it Macy recognized wasn't even on the market yet. There were all kinds of monitors that were watching a variety of things for Division. As trained as she was in technology, even she wasn't sure if she could keep up with all the things that Birkhoff had going on at once. "It's really not that difficult." Birkhoff had noticed her hesitation. "Most of these monitors are running programs that I have designed. They will flash an alert if something comes up that you need to work at."

Macy was impressed. For Birkhoff to be managing most of the technical work for an organization of Division's size by himself, he had to be doing a pretty good job. "Impressive." Macy half-mumbled under her breath, not sure if she wanted Birkhoff to hear her compliment.

"A complement?" he asked in mocked surprise. "I guess you must be impressed."

"Don't push your luck." Macy replied, rolling her eyes. "So, there's one thing I have to know."

Birkhoff looked at her in surprise. "Shoot."

"Why did you kiss me?" Macy couldn't get the thought out of her head.

Hesitating, Birkhoff wasn't exactly sure how to reply. He wasn't sure why he had done it. Part of it was a desperate attempt at fixing his mistakes to make his seduction easier for Amanda's task, but part of him couldn't explain why he had done it- it just felt like he should. "I'm not sure." He finally answered with a sigh. "I got caught up in the fire of the moment."

Macy wasn't sure his answer really satisfied her curiosity, instead leaving her with more questions. For now she decided it would be better to work with him on the technical issues to start that part of her training. "So," she changed the subject, "How does all this stuff work?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It had been a week since Macy had been planted into Division. She was slowly getting into the routine and being a Division recruit. Her and Birkhoff were still at odds; she had not completely forgiven him, even though seducing him was her mission. Things were getting better, but still ice cold between them. As she walked to his office that morning for her training, she knew today she would have to start warming things up to accomplish her goal.

In his office, Birkhoff was thinking the same thing. He knew Amanda would be expecting an update and so far he didn't have one. He ran his hand through his hair nervously, not sure what to do. The reason Amanda had assigned him to practice was because she knew that he needed practice. Since Division didn't allow relationships, he had no reason to seduce a woman previously. Before division Birkhoff had not had much luck with relationships so he did not have anything to draw from especially when they had gotten off to such an awful start. He powered up the computer as there was gentle knock on his office door. He walked over, picking up a couple pieces of clothes off the floor, throwing them into his hamper next to the door. Opening the door, Macy came into the office. "Good morning Birkhoff." She greeted him with a cheerier-than-normal tone.

"Morning." He replied, gesturing to a computer chair, "Have a seat. Today we're going to be looking at the more medical applications. First thing we are going to look at is activating tracers and kill chips."

"Kill chips?" Macy wasn't so happy to hear they would do things like that.

"Yeah." Birkhoff looked at her, annoyed that he had to repeat himself. He had definitely woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, frustrated by the situation. "Kills chips."

Biting her tongue, Macy knew she and Birkhoff had to start getting along. Once in the week she had known him, she wished Birkhoff would give an inch of patience to her. "Alright. So what's the first step?" she asked him, leaning in closer to him.

Birkhoff was a little thrown off when Macy leaned closer to him. He dismissed it as an accident and went back to teaching her. About halfway he felt her hand gently rest on his leg. This caught him off-guard and this time he couldn't ignored it. "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, picking her hand up off his lap and holding it towards her.

"Sorry." She blushed, moving her hand back to her own lap. "I thought it was the computer chair."

Birkhoff wasn't sure if he bought it or not, but he couldn't think of a reason she would be interested in him, not that he cared either way. Without a second thought she went back to teaching her the ropes. As she had done earlier, he moved slightly closer to her to try to get on his mission. He tried to remember the techniques he had seen others use, but they all escaped him. Needing a moment to think, to plan, so he suggested, "Let's see you give it a try."

As Macy began to work, Birkhoff stood behind her chair to watch what she was doing. Looking over her shoulder, he noticed the slightly fruity smell from her soap. Until now he had not realized how long it had been since he was so close to a girl that he could admire her scent. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought. He still had to figure out his next move. If he moved too fast and scared Macy, he would risk cancellation.

Macy heard Birkhoff take a deep breath as he watched over her shoulder and she hoped that was a good thing. As much as she needed to make a move for her mission, since his mission was to seduce her, and he didn't know this, it would be much better to let him make the movie. She shuttered a little, a little disgusted that she was going to let someone that had been so rude to kiss her. Meanwhile Birkhoff caught a mistake she made and he grabbed her hand and mouse to correct it. She jumped, not expecting that much contact from him. Part of her enjoyed the feeling of having someone pressed against her. His arm was pressed against hers as he held onto her hand. She didn't know what was going on but her heart was pounding.

When Birkhoff realized that he had stopped watching and had froe, he straightened up, putting away from her. Clearing his throat, he said, "Maybe we ought to stop for today."

Macy stood up, the chair rolling away with the force she had stood. "What?" Macy complained, frustrated that Birkhoff wasn't making a move and was making things harder, "One mistake and you're done?"

"It's not that." Birkhoff shot back angrily, "I just think we should take a break."

"Why! So you can run off and report to Amanda how bad I suck so she can cancel me, or at the very least take me off your specialty?" Macy threw out the only thing she could think of on the fly.

"Because you're driving me crazy!" Birkhoff replied, pulling her to him and giving her a heated kiss.

In absolute shock at his sudden boldness, Macy let her body fold into his, placing her hands gently on his hips, slowly running one of them up his back as they kissed. She was surprised that Birkhoff was a lot more muscular than his baggy clothes let on. She had forgotten what a great kisser Birkhoff was from the small taste she'd had in Amanda's office. Feeling Birkhoff's hands run up her sides, part of her hoped that Birkhoff was at least enjoying the kiss, although she didn't exactly understand where that thought was coming from.

It was an out of body experience for Birkhoff as he instinctually pulled her in for a kiss. Turning the fire of them fighting into a kiss had almost worked before, so he figured it could work again. HE was slightly surprised when Macy's body meted against his. It was surprisingly pleasant to kiss her- to kiss a real woman again. That much he could admit, even though he could not stand her. His mind suddenly began to race- wondering if he should keep kissing her, if he should stop or if he should guide her towards the couch. Luckily Macy made the choice for him, pulling away, placing her hands on his arms. "Seymour." She looked at him, question in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Birkhoff apologized, slapping himself on the inside for being too bold.

"Don't be." Macy gave him a gentle smile. "I didn't slap you this time."

Birkhoff looked unsure. Giving Birkhoff credit for trying to seduce her, Macy leaned in and gave him another, soft kiss. The surprise on his face was priceless to Macy. She knew she could not give in too easily, so she made sure to keep the kiss short. "Macy, I am so sorry for before." He caught her eyes as she pulled away.

Macy was surprised, but the apology was believable this time. The sincerity in his voice and eyes were clear. "Thank you." She whispered, still locking his gaze.

Glad they were finally on friendlier terms, Birkhoff gave Macy a friendly smile, and then they started back at work. She still didn't quite like or trust Birkhoff, so while she had to let him in, she knew Birkhoff could not move too quickly, especially after the rocky start they had gotten off to. As they continued to work on her training, Macy noticed Birkhoff was working a little bit closer to her than he had been previously

After a few hours of work, Macy was finally going to join the other recruits on normal training. As she went to leave, Birkhoff's voice trailed after her, "Macy," she turned around to face him, "Would you like to come watch a movie with me tonight? I know we can't go out, but I could at least put one on here."

"I thought this wasn't allowed?" Macy had to play her part.

"What they don't know won't hurt them. I'm the tech, remember? I can erase video, spoof trackers, and anything else that we need."

Smiling and sure that Birkhoff was convinced that she didn't know anything she shouldn't, Macy finally replied, "Okay Seymour."

She didn't really want to do it, but for her cover she knew that she would have to do it, and using his first name made things easier.

Birkhoff smiled. "How about 7:00 PM?"

Walking down the hallway, a guard stopped Macy about halfway to the gym. "Recruit, Amanda would like to see you."

After the act she had to put on Birkhoff, Macy wasn't exactly looking for another challenge at the moment, but it had been a few days since they had talked, and she figured that Amanda would be dying for an update. "Thanks." She thanked the guard, heading to Amanda's office.

As she walked past a couple of recruits, she was very aware of how they glared at her and whispered as they walked by. There was one disadvantage of being Amanda's pet- the other recruits were jealous someone so new spent so much time locked up in special training with Birkhoff and Amanda. She couldn't blame them, but it didn't make it sting any less. Loneliness and judgment was a huge part of her life. It wasn't too long before she got to Amanda's office. "Macy." Amanda greeted her from her usual spot beside her vanity. "Sit down."

Amanda joined Macy at the chairs in the middle of the room. "You wanted to see me?"

Smiling, Amanda replied, "Yes, I wanted to know how things are going with Birkhoff?"

"Okay." She replied. "He finally made a move today."

Amanda's eyebrows arched in interest. "Really?"

Nodding, Macy reported, "He kissed me earlier and he invited me to watch a movie in his office later."

This impressed Amanda- or at least she was glad to hear it. "I'm surprised. Didn't think Birkhoff would have it in him."

"He's a little weird about it, a little uneasy but he's getting there."

Amanda look in Macy's comment before continuing. "Just be careful. Make sure he's good and comfortable with you before you start asking questions and don't let him catch you spying on him."

Macy let out a disappointed sigh. If Birkhoff had to trust her that much this would have to come after he completed his mission of seducing her and Amanda gave them the okay to really date. That could be awhile. "So while he's pretending to seduce me, I really have to seduce him so you can ok us dating and I can possibly start asking more questions?" Macy wanted to make sure she knew exactly what was expected.

"It sounds right." Amanda agreed.

"This is going to be a long process." Macy replied.

Amanda smiled. "It might be. Sometimes Birkhoff is hard to predict, but the last time I talked to Birkhoff, he still didn't think much of you."

"And I don't think much of him." Macy admitted in reply.

"Well, so far you are doing a good job hiding it. Just make sure you and Birkhoff continue to fulfill your mission."

Macy nodded. "I know, otherwise I would be nowhere near him."

"Birkhoff isn't the only thing I brought you here to talk about." Amanda quickly switched subjects. "How did your extended cover go? Did you work on the things we talked about before you left?"

For three years Macy had dreaded that question. "You saw that first fight between Birkhoff and me. I thought I had resolved it, but obviously it's still there."

Amanda nodded. "Well I am glad you can admit as much. We will try to work on it as much as possible, but it will be hard since most of the recruits won't be too thrilled with you with your special training."

Macy had already observed this to be true. "Just trust is hard enough." Macy regretted saying it the minute it left her mouth.

With a smirk, Amanda's face lit up with an idea. "Well I have an idea for that." Amanda quickly replied. "While you are regaining Birkhoff's trust, I want you to let Birkhoff gain yours."

"What?" Macy was shocked. "How can I trust someone that made comments to me the way he did."

"Because," Amanda was still smiling, Macy sure she was marveling at her brilliant idea "Birkhoff isn't really a bad guy. He just sticks his foot in his mouth and gets a bit selfish at times."

Hiding the gasp from her mouth, Macy found it amazing to hear Amanda give a complement, much less about Birkhoff. From the very beginning her dislike for Birkhoff had be clear in her voice when she talked about or to him. "And how do I show that I am trusting Birkhoff?"

"If you trust someone, you let them know everything. I'll expect you to tell Birkhoff about your past- except that you are a secret plant- that I obviously don't want you to tell him. And I would expect you to him in close enough to do the normal things couples do." Amanda's slimy grin made Macy's skin crawl.

Even though she hadn't come out and said it, Macy knew what Amanda was implying, worse yet was the thought of how Amanda would confirm that Macy had done what she'd asked. Shaking the thought from her head, Macy replied, "Ok." Putting off the inevitable.

"So we talked a little before about your extended cover. What did you spend your time doing?" Amanda asked.

Macy didn't really want to talk with Amanda about the last three years. She had been lucky enough to get three years of a relatively private life, and she wanted to keep it private too. "Just the normal things- working, reading, those kinds of things."

"No trouble?"

Macy shook her head. "Very little contact with anyone. No trouble, no traffic tickets, nothing."

"Good." Amanda replied.

As she began to ask another question, a knock on the door interrupted her. Without a word to Macy, Amanda got up and headed to the door. Macy was surprised to see Birkhoff there. After whispering for a few seconds, Amanda invited him in, telling Macy, "Macy, an urgent issue came up that we have to address. We'll have to continue our talk later."

Nodding, Macy got up to leave, nodding at Birkhoff on her way out. She was surprised to find herself thinking, 'Thank God for Birkhoff.'


	7. Chapter 7

Double Agent- Chapter 7

Standing in front of the mirror Macy gave herself the once over Even though this date was completely made up by the missions both Macy and Birkhoff had, something still compelled her to look good. It was a date after all and she was trying to seduce Birkhoff. Once she was happy with the outfit- pretty yellow top and dressy pants, Macy sighed to herself and headed towards Birkhoff's office. She took another deep breath before she knocked on the door. It took Birkhoff only a few seconds to come to the door. Jaymee was surprised that Birkhoff had dressed up also, as much as the tech would. He was wearing a dressy shirt and a nice pair of blue jeans that seemed to fit him perfectly. "Hi Macy." He smiled in greeting. "Come in."

Macy walked into his office and was immediately surprised that Birkhoff had spent some time clearing up his room. All the random stuff that had been around the room had been cleaned up. Macy was surprised Birkhoff was going to such lengths for a fake romance. "Hey Birkhoff," she greeted him.

"Thanks for coming." He smiled, "I've been looking forward to this."

'Liar.' Macy thought to herself. Walking over to the couch and sat down. She held back a giggle as Birkhoff came over and visibly fought with himself where he should sit. Finally he sat down on the couch not directly next to Macy, but not across the couch from her either. He grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and hit play. Macy wasn't aware of what the movie was, but she was surprised once it started by the choice Birkhoff had made. While she would have pegged Birkhoff for either the action movie or superhero movie, she was pleasantly surprised that he had picked out a fairly artsy, intelligent film.

Macy sat enjoying the movie for a while. About half-an-hour later Birkhoff suddenly got up, bringing some popcorn back with him. "Sorry, I forgot to bring it back before. I hope it's not too cold."

As Birkhoff put the popcorn down on the coffee table, Macy replied, "It's popcorn, I think it will be okay."

This time when Birkhoff sat on the couch, he was a little bit closer to her. As they both reached for popcorn, Macy's hand gently grazed his. They looked up into each other's eyes and Macy gave him a smile. Going back to the movie, they continued watching. Macy was keenly aware of Birkhoff adjusting his position, each time settling a little closer to Macy. She was kind of relieved he was trying, but almost had to laugh at his seemingly subtle techniques. Finally Macy decided to give him a break and moved over so he was sitting right beside her. She wanted to preempt him before he tried the yawn move to put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and they continued watching the movie.

When she rested her head on his shoulder, it surprised him. He had been lucky so far that she had been very receptive to him. With her head so close to his, he could smell her perfume. It was nice- kind of fruity as opposed to the flowery crap that normally made him sneeze. Gently he rested his head against hers, moving his hand slowly up her back until he had his arm around her shoulders. As much as he wasn't too excited about seducing her, it did feel nice, to have a warm body to curl up with. A little surprised to feel tears against, the bare skin of his neck. "Mace?" he moved to see her face better, realizing the young woman was crying. "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry." She started to dry her eyes with her sleeve. "I get a little emotional with sad movies."

Birkhoff was surprised that Macy had let her guard down. "It's okay." He gently squeezed her, and then rubbed her back gently.

"Thanks." Macy replied.

For a while they watched the movie in silence, occasionally Macy would snuggle closer to Birkhoff. There were a couple of times she felt like asking him how seriously he was about her, but she did not want to throw up any flags. After thinking a few minutes, she finally asked, "So why are you so interested in me now?"

Thinking for a minute, Birkhoff replied, "It was a bad day for me. It wasn't me. The more time I spent with you, the more I realized what a smart, beautiful woman you are."

Macy tried to look for any sign of him lying other than the obvious- that line seemed out of character with Birkhoff- along with the movie he had picked. At least from the little bit Macy had known Birkhoff for. Either way, Birkhoff seemed to be pretty genuine right that moment. She figured he'd been working with Amanda to improve his flirting and deception. She was impressed. "Thank you." She replied.

Birkhoff leaned in and gave Macy a soft kiss. When they pulled apart, Birkhoff asked, "Are you having a good time?"

Nodding, Macy smiled. "It's a very interesting movie. I didn't know you had such artistic tastes."

"I can be deceiving." He replied. "I have a great mind- you have to be brilliant to hack and with my mind, it requires some stimulating entertainment."

Macy held back a snort for both the absurdness of his ego and the fact that what he said could be badly misinterpreted. "With all the comic books and things it didn't seem like you were as deep as this."

"Well I'm glad to be able to surprise you." He replied, "So Macy, where are you from?"

She was surprised Birkhoff wanted to know about her past. "I come from Chicago." She replied. "Highland Park more specifically."

"Do you have any family? Siblings?"

Macy shook her head no. She couldn't get into too many details without leaving her cover. Finally she decided on, "My family died when I was eight in a car accident. My mom, dad, mom's parents, my big brothers, Wayland and Kyle and little brother Leland."

Birkhoff's face immediately softened. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Macy replied. "It was years ago."

"Still." Birkhoff interjected. "That is horrible for anyone- to lose everyone all together."

This time Macy could tell that he was being genuine. "Thanks." She replied.

"If you ever need anyone to talk to I'll be here." Birkhoff locked eyes with her.

Macy got a chill. She was confused. Birkhoff was throwing so much at her; she could not get a good gauge on who the real Birkhoff was. It made her a little uneasy but also a little hopeful that the angry, hurtful man she had first met wasn't the real Birkhoff- just the one Division had created. Now spending time in private with her, he was letting his guard down- whether it was intentional or not. "Are you alright?" she found Birkhoff was giving her a strange look.

"Sorry." She replied. "I'm a little cold."

Birkhoff grabbed a sweater off his chair and gently placed it around her shoulders. "There you go."

"Thanks." Macy smiled in reply, settling back into Birkhoff's arms.

He kissed her temple as she settled back into his arms. As much as it frustrated him, Macy was starting to bring out the old Birkhoff that had existed before. He had no idea how she was doing it, but it just kept coming out. He admonished himself to be more careful- after all this was only a mission- not real life. At the very least the real Birkhoff was helping him succeed- to draw on his past, the person he was somewhat hiding inside. It felt nice to let the real Birkhoff out once in a while.

When Birkhoff looked down, he realized Macy had fallen asleep. Gently he pulled her legs on the couch so she was laying and hopefully would be more comfortable. He placed a pillow on his lap, placing Macy's head gently down, and then returning to the movie.

Meanwhile Amanda sat in her office, a glass of wine in hand, watching the date unfold. It had been hard to get the camera into Birkhoff's lair and even harder to convince Percy, but she had to make sure things were progressing. Birkhoff wasn't dumb, certainly he could surmise that they might be bugged, but so far he showed no signs of discretion at the suspension of a bug.

Amanda was surprised by Birkhoff's chivalry. It seemed very out of character for him. Either way she knew she had more digging to do when it came to Birkhoff. She sipped her wine as Birkhoff watched the movie, Macy in his lap sleeping. Her plan was coming together, but she had to make sure they didn't get too close.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Birkhoff nervously knocked on the door, then walked into the conference room. Amanda and Percy were there, and he was surprised to also see Macy there. "Birkhoff! Nice to see you." Amanda greeted him, "Have a seat."

Seeing Percy there, Birkhoff knew this meeting wouldn't be good. Birkhoff sat down as Macy gave him a small smile in greeting. "So what are we doing here?" Birkhoff asked.

"Always to the point. I love that about you Birkhoff." Birkhoff replied. "We brought you here today because we are going to send you on a mission."

Birkhoff immediately laughed. "I haven't been trained for missions. Look what Nikita did to me!"

"Don't worry Birkhoff. You're good enough to perform the mission." Amanda replied.

"What's the mission?" Macy asked.

"There is a club we believe Nikita may be at tonight." Percy replied.

"And why are you sending me?" Birkhoff asked, completely confused.

"She would never be looking for you. Especially not with a date." Amanda replied.

"But if she sees me, she'll make me." Birkhoff replied.

"She's not supposed to see you if you are doing your job correctly." Amanda smiled in reply.

"Great." Macy replied in her cover, "The guy insults me, then I have to go on a mission with him as his date."

"It will be a great way to prove your talents." Percy replied.

Birkhoff had to remind himself that Macy was only denying their relationship because it wasn't allowed in Division- in Amanda and Percy's eyes. She had no idea that they already knew all about it. "I ain't too happy about it either sweetheart." He replied.

"Now, now children. Here-" Amanda handed Birkhoff some clothes. "Go get changed."

Birkhoff grabbed the clothes and left the room. "I'm heading back to Operations. Macy- you and Birkhoff meet me there once you return."

"Okay sir." Macy replied.

Once Percy had left the room, Amanda handed Macy a dress. "Get changed." She pointed at a small changing room. As Macy went into the room and started to change, Amanda continued to talk to her. "This is a good chance for you to put it on strong for Birkhoff and try to draw him even further in after your little date."

Macy stifled a laugh. Somehow she had to know Amanda would say something like that. "I'll try to turn on the charm." She pulled the dress down, then looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was very slinky. Quite a bit of her chest poked out from the contrast of the blue fabric and the dress barely covered her rear. "Are you sure this is the best dress for staying low key?"

Amanda laughed from over the partition. "Don't worry, we are just making sure you get into the club and that you fit in."

Macy was nervous. This wasn't something she would normally go out in. Not to mention she wasn't exactly comfortable with Birkhoff seeing this much of her so soon. Sure, she was warming up to him a little, but his was more than she would have done as a next move. "I don't even want to come out of this fitting room."

"C'mon Macy, I'm sure you look gorgeous." Amanda tried to reassure her.

Macy tugged on the dress to pull it as far down as possible, then walked out to Amanda. She watched as Amanda's eyes surveyed her and a smiled slowly crept across her face. "You look fantastic." Amanda told her.

Eyeing herself in the mirror, Macy looked herself over. Even though she was overweight, she did not notice it so much in the dress. After Amanda had done her hair and make-up, Macy was stunned by the transformation. Her chestnut brown curls were no longer frizzy, falling at her shoulders in perfect curls. Her make-up accented her best feature, her jade green eyes. She wondered what Birkhoff would think when he saw her. "You look beautiful." Amanda told her.

"Thanks." Macy blushed.

"So you and Birkhoff will be going to the Swagger club. Birkhoff and you are there to see if Nikita shows up and to observe what she does if you do see her. I also want you to observe Birkhoff if he sees Nikita."

Nodding in understanding, Macy acknowledged, "Of course."

Macy had to shake her head in disbelief as Birkhoff came back into the room. Birkhoff had been changed into a tight pair of dark blue jeans, shiny black oxfords, a t-shirt with a graphic design up one side, under a charcoal grey, collared leather jacket. His blond hair was neatly combed and tucked behind his left ear, an English cap topping off the outfit. His facial hair had also been neatly trimmed, making him look less like his normal scruffy tech. "Wow." He beat her to comment, "You look beautiful Macy."

"You don't look so bad yourself." She smiled in reply, "And thank you."

Birkhoff tipped his hat in reply with a goofy smile. "Okay. Head out to the club. Stay there until closing unless Nikita shows up sooner. Report in if you see her to get further instruction. Don't let Nikita make Birkhoff." Amanda replied.

They both nodded and headed to the SUV. Once they had walked out of Amanda's office, Birkhoff waited for her and then gave her his arm. With a smile she put her arm in his and they walked to the garage. "So do you like clubbing?" he asked Macy.

"Never been." She replied.

"Really?" he replied with a laugh.

"Not my style." She answered, opening the garage door.

Macy was pleasantly surprised when Birkhoff opened the SUV door open for her. "Thank you." She replied, climbing in.

It didn't take too long for them to get to the club. They didn't say too much, knowing Division was monitoring their trackers and could easily be bugging the car they were in. Once they got to the club, Birkhoff again let her out, opening her door for her. To convey the appearance of a couple, Birkhoff put his arm around Macy's waist. "Now we'll have a real date." He jokingly told her.

To passersby and Division it would sound like his cover, but Macy would know he actually meant it as his operation to really seduce her. She was meanwhile trying to imagine what Birkhoff would be like at a club dancing. It wasn't difficult for her to imagine that he didn't have much club experience- but for a very different reason than her. She was a goody-two shoes, he just didn't seem to have the opportunity to leave his bat cave during his hacking years- nor the social skills a club goer would require. Birkhoff paid the cover charge and Amanda had been right- their outfits got them immediately in.

The club was very crowded. It quickly reminded Macy of another reason she never went to clubs- the hordes of people. She had never been comfortable in big crowds- and this was one of the most crowded places she had ever been. Birkhoff lead her by the hand to the dance floor where it would be very easy for them to blend in. Macy had never been much of a dancer, so she did the only thing she could think of, putting both hands on Birkhoff's lower back. They both started moving slowly to the music. It wasn't pretty, but it wasn't so bad that they stuck out either. Macy laughed to herself when she realized there was room for another person between her and Birkhoff. "This is Ops." Macy heard over her earpiece, instantly recognizing Michael's voice.

Birkhoff keyed his earpiece. "Go ahead Ops."

"Could you try to look a little more like a couple?" Michael asked, "Not brother and sister?"

Opening his mouth to make a sly comeback, Birkhoff instead opted to leave it for when he saw Michael in person. Instead he pulled Macy tight against him, hands gently on her hips. He drew in a deep breath of her fruity perfume and realized once again how nice it was to have Macy against him. Her petite body seemed to fit perfectly against his. She leaned her head against his and they continued to dance.

As they danced, Macy was pleasantly surprised by Birkhoff's dance moves. For a nerd, he had been hiding some impressive moves. "You're a good dancer." She shouted into Birkhoff's ear over the loud music.

"There are a lot of things people don't know about me." Birkhoff replied. "Just because I'm a tech God doesn't mean I don't have moves."

Macy laughed at his cockiness. Birkhoff always had a way of working it into a conversation. In this case she couldn't fault him for it, he really was impressing her. He gingerly held onto her hips as they moved to the music. After a couple more songs, Macy knew she needed a break. "Hey Wyatt." She used Birkhoff's cover name. "I could use a drink."

Birkhoff nodded and put his arm around Macy's waist, walking to the bar. He ordered their drinks and they headed to a table in the back, somewhat hidden from plan view. Macy wasn't too surprised when he moved his chair next to hers so there wasn't an inch between them, then slung his arm over her shoulders. "You two make the worse couple ever." Michael's eye roll was clear over their earpieces.

After hiding his mouth from any passerby in Macy's hair, Birkhoff replied, "Would you like me to take her to a bathroom or better yet do her in the middle of the dance floor? Might draw a little attention."

Macy stifled a laugh, knowing Birkhoff's comment probably really pissed Michael off. "That's not what I meant." Michael replied. "It would be nice if you would kiss her or make out a little."

Looking sideways at Macy, their eyes met, and with a sparkle in his eye, he leaned into Macy and began to kiss her. Once the shock wore off, she started to kiss him back. He gently slipped a hand through her hair and cupped the back of her head, deepening the kiss. His other hand rested on her back, pushing her gently towards him. Macy's heart began to pound. She had momentarily forgotten how good of a kisser he was. His tongue traced her upper lip and she opened his mouth to him, his tongue gently caressing hers. Before she could stop herself, an appreciative moan escaped into his mouth. "Thank you." Michael sarcastically replied.

When Birkhoff finally pulled apart from her, he wore a cocky grin on his face. Macy could feel her cheeks were hot with embarrassment. She barely knew this guy, she was only pursuing him as a mission, and yet a little tongue from him made her moan like a horny schoolgirl. As Birkhoff sipped his drink, Macy chastised herself. His cocky smile turned to a frown suddenly. "She's here." He quickly keyed his earpiece while looking off behind Macy.

"Hide your face." Michael directed him.

Birkhoff leaned into Macy and started kissing her again, hiding his face in her hair and neck from Nikita's view. Apparently that wasn't good enough as Michael commanded, "Macy, get in his lap and hide his face." Michael directed.

Hesitating briefly, Macy climbed into Birkhoff's lap, facing him, then they continued to make out. Macy pressed her body tightly to Birkhoff's to try to hide him as much as possible. She noted that Birkhoff made no effort to look at Nikita or to try to make any kind of contact with her. Finally Macy spotted the dark-haired woman she had recognized as Nikita went by, paying no attention to Birkhoff and Macy. As Birkhoff buried his head in her neck, she watched as Nikita took an elevator to another floor. Birkhoff kissed her neck as Macy watched the floors to see where the elevator stopped. "She just went to the fifth floor." Macy took Birkhoff and Operations.

"Follow her." Michael told them. "See what she is doing, but don't let her see you."

Climbing off Birkhoff's lap, Macy straightened her dress and they walked over to the elevator. Birkhoff called it and they waited quietly. "You're quite the kisser." Birkhoff quietly admitted to her.

Once again she turned bright red from embarrassment. "Thank you."

The elevator pinged open and then climbed on. "Hopefully she won't be expecting someone to be following her and won't shoot at us." Birkhoff filled Macy in.

Suddenly there was a horrific screeching noise and the elevator slammed to a stop, almost causing them to fall to the floor. Macy found herself grabbing Birkhoff's arm to steady herself on her heels as the lights flickered,, then turned off, leaving them in the dark. "Well that can't be good." Macy commented.

"Just hold tight. We'll figure out what is going on." Michael reported.

"Meanwhile we're sitting ducks." Birkhoff commented as Macy sunk to the floor in fear.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Turning to look at Macy, Birkhoff was surprised to find she was no longer standing beside him. Looking down, he saw Macy on the floor panicked. "Macy, what's wrong?" Birkhoff dropped to the floor beside her.

"I don't like small spaces." She quietly replied.

Birkhoff sat on the floor of the elevator and pulled Macy against him. "It'll be okay." He tried to calm her.

He could hear that Macy was still breathing hard. Reaching over, he put his fingers on her neck. "Macy, you have to calm down." He told her.

"I don't know how." She replied.

Macy felt strange as Birkhoff pulled her into his lap, carefully placing her head against his chest. "Just listen to my heartbeat."

Macy closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat slow and steady. She focused on his heart beat and his hand gently rubbing her back. Slowly she calmed looking up into Birkhoff's eyes- luckily she could see his eyes through the pitch black since they were close enough together. He gave her a smile as she asked, "Where did you learn that?"

"I didn't." Birkhoff replied, "It just occurred to me."

"It was sweet." Macy replied, "You're definitely sweeter than your sour exterior."

Even though she couldn't see it she could tell by his grin he was blushing. "Have I chipped away at Shadow Walkers strong exterior?" Macy continued to tease.

She felt a few strands of Birkhoff's hair gently brush her cheeks as he leaned over her, his lips gently meeting hers. Immediately this kiss felt different to her. Butterflies filled her stomach and her fingers and toes tingled. Birkhoff wrapped his arms around her, then leaned over her, deeping the kiss. She felt her back hit the elevator floor and she shivered at the cold on her back as Birkhoff transferred his weight to cover her body with his. Cupping his head, she ran her fingers through his hair as he continued to kiss her. His beard scratched against her cheeks as they made out. He kissed across her jaw and she shivered against her cheeks as they made out. He kissed across her jaw and she shivered as he hit a sensitive spot on her neck. Sucking in a breath, she whispered in replied, "Birkhoff, Birkhoff, wait."

Pulling back, Birkhoff leaned his forehead against hers. "Wow." Was his only response between quick breaths. Leaning in, he gave her a couple of quick pecks as he helped her back into a sitting position. "Macy, I am really sorry for the way I treated you."

Macy was thrown off by his sincerity. There was no question in her mind unlike the previous kisses, these kisses were pure attraction. She never would have thought that it was possible to tell the difference before that kiss. "Seymour," she whispered back, "It's okay."

She saw him smile. "I like when you say my name." he admitted.

Macy playfully smacked his chest. "So Shadow Walker has a soul?"

Birkhoff laughed knowing he did kind of deserve it. "You caught me." He replied, "You're a beautiful woman."

"I thought I was below Division's beauty standards." She told him.

"I am very," Birkhoff softly kissed her, "very sorry."

"Well, besides our movie, I guess that makes this our first real date." Macy used her thumb to clean some smeared lipstick she could feel in the corner of her mouth.

"So what kind of things do you talk about on a first date?" Birkhoff jokingly asked.

"I dunno." Macy replied with a shy giggle. "Um, I really don't know."

"Well, there isn't a lot to talk about for me. I've been in Division for the last eleven years or so."

"Eleven years?" Macy instantly wondered how Amanda could doubt someone that had been working for them so long.

"I know. It's been my whole adult life. At least it feels that way."

"So, I'm just curious, who is this Nikita person that I keep hearing about?"  
"Use to work for Division." Birkhoff explained. "She escaped. Now she is trying to destroy Division and take us down. When this first started, she kidnapped me and put a transmitter in my mouth. I had no idea- I thought the pain was just from when she pistol-whipped me. Ever since then they've thought I've been working with her, that I'm helping her. I just don't understand why- I've been nothing but faithful to Division and all their rules."

Macy believe him, but she had a little trouble believing why the sudden change. It was like a switch had flipped for no apparent reason. While it was nice, Macy wanted to know if Birkhoff was genuine, as she felt he was, or if he was just getting better at his assignment. "I don't mean to be judgmental, but I am really curious- why the sudden change? You went from thinking I was fat and ugly to all over me in a dark elevator."

"I'm a different person outside Division." He replied, "The first response you got was automatic knowing we can't touch. But ever since Amanda gave me the okay and since our movie date, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

Macy didn't know what to say. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her- she knew it was lame, but it was true. "That's really nice." She could feel the blush on her cheeks.

"It's not that nice." Birkhoff replied.

"For me it is." She admitted.

"Division has just taken so much from me, until you came along, I've had this version of me- the real version of me- hidden inside."

It was happening so quickly, Macy didn't know if she should trust him, but he seemed sincere and everything he said made a lot of sense. "I'm glad you can confide in me." She told him.

Birkhoff took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm kind of glad to have someone to confide in. It's been a really long time."

Cupping her cheek, Birkhoff gave her another kiss. Then he put his arm around her should, she rested her head on his shoulder. "When do you think they will get us out of here?" she asked.

"Without me there helping?" Birkhoff joked, "I don't know. Part of it will depend on if it's a technical issue or a Nikita issue."

Suddenly Macy shivered. She hadn't realized how cold it was in the elevator. Without a word, Birkhoff pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Thank you." She replied.

"Why don't you rest your head on my shoulder again, get some sleep while we're waiting for Division to rescue us." Birkhoff suggested, pulling Macy closer to him.

An hour later Michael and the recovery team managed to get into the club as the mechanics to fix the elevator. Michael and Thom got to the panel and determined the elevator was stuck between the third and fourth floors. "Let's head up to three and manually get it back to the third floor." Michael suggested.

The group headed up a couple of floors on the stairs. Michael supervised as the team pried the doors open, revealing the elevator cart stuck about halfway between floors. Using the key, Thom managed to get the elevator back to the third floor, the door binging open. Michael stood bemused as the opening door revealed Birkhoff asleep with his arm around Macy, his head resting on top of hers as she slept on his shoulder. "Ehem!" Michael cleared his throat, waking Birkhoff.

"It took you long enough." Birkhoff drowsily replied.

"Have a good time?" Michael replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Just maintaining my cover." Birkhoff shook his head. "Macy, Macy, wake up." He gently shook her.

Opening her eyes to Birkhoff, Michael and a bunch of agents she didn't recognized. "Good morning everyone." She replied as Birkhoff helped her to her feet.

Once they got back to Division, Birkhoff and Macy stood outside his door. "Sorry to make your first mission such an adventure." Birkhoff apologized.

"It's alright." Macy smiled. "I enjoyed the, experience."

Birkhoff laughed at her response. "So did I." he responded. "Hey, come in for a second?" Birkhoff gestured into his office.

"Sure." She smiled.

Birkhoff opened the door and she walked in. Shutting the door behind them Birkhoff pushed her against the door, giving her a kiss, pinning her body with his. He held her, his fingers lightly digging into her hips as she just enjoyed the feeling of their bodies pressed together. Slowly he pulled back from her and commented, "I just had to do that one more time before I head to bed. Percy said we can debrief in the morning."

"Good night Seymour." Macy smiled.

Birkhoff cupped her chin and stroked his cheek with his thumb. "Good night Macy."

When Macy got to her room, she was shocked to find Amanda waiting. "Macy!" Amanda eagerly greeted her, "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Macy agreed, opening the door.

Walking in, Macy sat on her bed as Amanda sat on a chair across from Macy. "How did your mission go?"

"Besides getting stuck in an elevator and losing Nikita?" Macy questioned.

Amanda chuckled. "Yes."

"Well, when Nikita walked by, Birkhoff paid no attention to her- no kind of attempt to communicate nothing." Macy said.

"That's good to hear." Amanda replied, "But not what I expected."

"I got him talking, it doesn't seem like he has anything to do with Nikita. He seemed very loyal to Division." Macy said.

Macy seemed disappointed by what she found. "Keep an eye on him." She finally replied after thinking on what Macy said. "I trust your judgment but you haven't been together long so I want to see if time changes his story."

Macy nodded, but inside she was somewhat upset that Amanda doubted what Birkhoff told her when she knew Birkhoff was being sincere. "Okay." She replied.

Getting up, Amanda walked to the door. "Percy wants to see you at 8:00 AM."

"Won't be late." She smiled in reply as Amanda left the room.

Heading to the closet, Macy changed into her nightgown, then climbing into bed. Birkhoff was on her mind. Tonight she had seen a different side of him. Birkhoff had been sweet, kind, open and gallant. It gave her a lot to think about. The fact that he had a "Division Birkhoff" and the "real Birkhoff" made total sense. It explained his behavior. If the way he had been acting tonight was the real Birkhoff, Macy was going to really start enjoying her assignment.

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	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Macy." Amanda greeted her, "Nice to see you again."

The next morning Macy and Birkhoff had met Percy and spoke with him,, now they each had to debrief with Amanda. Macy had decided to go first. "Morning." She sat across from Amanda, crossing her legs once she'd sat down.

"I know we partially debriefed last night, but there is more information I want to give you now." Amanda explained, leaning over and pouring her and Macy some tea.

"Is there something else you need to know?" Macy was confused what else there would be to talk about.

"Nothing that I needed to know, more so an announcement." Amanda smiled.

Macy wasn't sure about this- it could easily be something bad- like terminating her assignment right when she was really getting interested in Birkhoff. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I have spoken with Percy and due to your excellent work on the last mission, doing exactly as asked, they are promoting you to full agent." Amanda announced.

Macy was confused. To everyone but Amanda she was a brand new recruit. They didn't know she was spying on Birkhoff. They had no clue Amanda had personally trained her over three years prior to her three years undercover. They had no reason to make her a full agent so soon. Apparently Amanda could read the confusion on her face because Amanda explained, "It is unusual, but I gave Percy a raving review of my parts of training I am responsible for. Without telling him of your status, I convinced him you were a good choice for promotion to agent and that I would oversee you to continue your training.

Surprise, Macy was glad she would be allowed out of Division, but she was a little concerned about how often she would get to see Birkhoff. "How will that work with Birkhoff?" she decided to ask.

Smiling, Amanda explained, "Because Birkhoff is a full agent,, per say, eh has an off-campus apartment. Off-campus you can be a little more open not under direct supervision. It will allow you two more freedom to extend my goals. I've also arranged with Percy that Birkhoff will also be monitoring your status as a teacher- giving you excuses to be together."

It made sense to Macy, but she was surprised that Amanda had gotten Percy and Michael and all the other head people to agree. "So now what" Macy questioned.

"I have arranged for Birkhoff to bring you to your new apartment." Amanda answered. "If you want you can head over to his office. He's expecting you."

"Anything else I have to do for you?" Macy asked.

Amanda shook her head. "I'll call you with any further updates."

"Bye." Macy waved as she left Amanda's office and headed towards Birkhoff's.

Knocking on Birkhoff's door, Macy was startled when it opened as she was knocking. "Come in." Birkhoff greeted her with a smile.

Macy walked in and Birkhoff shut the door behind her. Before she knew what happened, he had her pressed back against it, locking her lips in a passionate kiss. His body pressed hers against the doorframe. When he broke the kiss, Macy just gave him a smile. "Nice to see you too." She greeted him.

"Are you ready to go see your apartment." Birkhoff asked her.

She nodded, "I'm kind of excited but surprised they pushed this through so quickly."

"Me too." Birkhoff replied, "But at least this means it will be easier for us to spend time together."

They headed down to the vehicle bay. "The blue one." Birkhoff pointed to a full-sized car.

Macy climbed into the passenger seat as Birkhoff got into the driver's seat. "So how far is my apartment?" Macy questioned.

"Ah," Birkhoff thought for a few minutes, then responded, "About fifteen minutes from Division. A block from my place."

"Do they give us nice places?" Macy was curious what she was in for.

Birkhoff just nodded. "Usually. Plus, you are Amanda's pet and I like you, so that gives you bonus points."

"Bonus points?" Macy questioned.

With a laugh, Birkhoff replied "Bigger place, more amenities, better location."

"Are you telling me I should expect a nice place?"

"I did have a hand in picking out which place you should get." Birkhoff had a sly grin on his face.

"That scares me a little." Macy jokingly replied.

"Oh ha ha." Birkhoff mockingly laughed. "I'm hurt."

They drove almost exactly fifteen minutes to an apartment building. On the way Birkhoff pointed out his building for her. Then they parked in the lot and headed for the building. Birkhoff reached over and put the keys into Macy's hand. "There are your keys for the car and for your apartment."

"My car?" Macy looked at Birkhoff in confusion.

"Yeah. You're going to need a car after all." Birkhoff smiled in reply.

"It's the perfect color." Macy looked at the car in surprise.

"I hoped so." Birkhoff replied. "I guessed blue because of your bracelet."  
Macy glanced down at her wrist at a bracelet with bluish-purple beads. Birkhoff had guessed correctly that was her favorite color. "How observant. Nice guess too."

Rewarded with a smile, Macy could tell Birkhoff had been trying to impress her and was excited that he had gotten that guess right. When they got to the door, he punched in the code, then held the door open for Macy. "Thanks." She replied.

Birkhoff came in behind her, gently placing his hand on her back, guiding her to where the elevator was. "Your apartment is on the tenth floor- the penthouse." He told her as he guided her to the private elevator or her apartment.

"The penthouse?" Macy was shocked.

Nodded, Birkhoff replied, "Division takes care of their agents."

They got on the elevator and rode up to her apartment. Birkhoff slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. "I think you really will like this place."

"What do you base that on" Macy teased.

"Don't know." Birkhoff replied, "Your file and guesses."

The door binged open to a small foyer with the door to her apartment. She took the key from her jacket pocket and unlocked the door. Walking in, all Macy could do is gasp in surprise. They had walked into a large foyer area opening into a large living room- double doors leading out from the far side of the room to a balcony/deck. There was a decent sized kitchen and dining area. Beyond that was a hallway leading to a bathroom that was also huge and two huge bedrooms. As she looked over the last room- the master bedroom, she turned back to Birkhoff, who stood behind her watching his arms crossed. A satisfied smile crossing his face. Macy ran over to him and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you, it's beautiful."

"You're welcome." He replied, "Whenever you are ready, we can go out and buy some things to decorate." He handed Macy a credit card with her name on it. "Anything over $20,000 has to be approved by Operations first."

"Okay." Macy smiled in reply, slipping the card into her pocket. "So now what do we have to report back to Division"

Smiling and shaking his head, Birkhoff replied, "You get a full day to get use to your apartment I figured we could do some shopping for your place, then I could make dinner."

You?" Macy hid a laugh, "I have trouble picturing the Shadow Walker cooking."

"I don't much. But for you I am willing to try. Just don't expect anything fantastic- I'm not that good."

"It's the thought that counts." She smiled in reply.

"So, I know we took off early this morning, so I doubt you got your shower in. I ran a bath for you if you would like to."

Macy turned back to Birkhoff in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Really." Birkhoff replied, giving her a grin. "Don't act so surprised. Division's got their claws in me, but I still know how to be a chivalrous man."

He walked over to her and cupped her cheek gently. Leaning in,, he gave her a gentle kiss. "I'll be waiting." He told her leaving the room.

Heading into the bathroom, Macy slipped off her clothes and climbed into her huge bathtub that Seymour had set up a bubble bath in. After the last few days Macy could definitely use to relax. Slipping into the warm water,, Macy began to wonder if Birkhoff was being the real Birkhoff or his cover for Division. She figured it may be a mixture of both. Finally she got out of the tub and drained it, dressing slowly and combing her hair.

When she went into the living room, Birkhoff was waiting for her. "Did you enjoy your bath?" he turned around from the couch to greet her.

"Yes. Very much. Thank you." She smiled and leaned in over his arms, giving him a kiss. "It was very thoughtful."

"What can I say, I try." Birkhoff answered. "Honestly I needed a little time to think."

Macy sat down across from him. "About what?"

Birkhoff seemed suddenly nervous. "Ah," he started wringing his hands in front of him, "I've been trying to figure out how to tell you this."

Nervous, Macy wasn't sure what to expect. She had no idea what Birkhoff was going to tell her. "You can let me know." She reached out and took Birkhoff's hands in her own, "I don't bite."

With a grin, Birkhoff replied, "I want to be honest with you before I tell you the main thing." Macy arched an eyebrow in confusion, Originally after I insulted you,, Amanda assigned me to practice seduction on you."

"What?" Macy knew to make it real she had to protest.

"Amanda and Percy decided it would be a good idea for me to practice seduction. Because I had a fight with you they thought it would be amusing to make me practice on you."

"So this has all been a game?" Macy angrily shouted at him, "You have been playing me the whole time?"

Throwing his hands up to protest, Birkhoff replied, "No. It started out that way."

Macy eyed him suspiciously. She couldn't let him know she was aware all along, but her real interest in him caused her to not want to be too difficult either. "What do you mean started out? We've barely been dating."

"The elevator changed things for me." Birkhoff looked down at the floor as he admitted.

"Changed things?" Macy wanted more explanation.

"I realized that despite what Division forced me to do, I wanted to be doing them anyway." Birkhoff answered.

"What?" Macy questioned in disbelief.

"I like you Macy." Birkhoff finally admitted. "Apart from what Division has told me to do, I like you. A lot."

Looking around the room in a panic, Macy asked, "Isn't my place bugged?"

"Not when the tech wants to date you." Birkhoff replied, "I looped the video feeds so it replays clean video while I'm here."

"You've been planning this?" Macy was surprised.

With a nod, Birkhoff explained, "Ever since the elevator last night, I've realized that even beyond what Division wants me to feel, I really feel for you. I actually spent some time planning this moment getting to tell you?"

Macy stood up and sat on the couch beside Birkhoff. Slipping her hand into his, Birkhoff gave her a big smile. "So now what?" Macy asked him.

"What do you mean?" Birkhoff turned to look at her.

"Did you have anything else you wanted to ask or say?" Macy asked him.

Birkhoff turned bright red, but Macy just continued to smile to him. "I know we can't tell Division, but, I would really like to know if you would really be my girlfriend?" he asked.

Thrown off, Macy was surprised Birkhoff had gone that far, that quick. The night before she had assumed their make-out session only brought out the tech's hormones, not that they were real attractions and feelings developing. She was definitely happy, especially since she knew Amanda would allow it. She also felt bad- she had real feelings for Birkhoff- he was one of the smartest, funniest men she had ever met. It was still in her head that she would be hiding information from him about Amanda's involvement in Macy's first entry into the relationship. She knew she would tell him one day. Smiling to him and squeezing his hand, Macy replied, "Yes. Of course."

Gently pushing her onto the couch in reply, Birkhoff quickly leaned over and started kissing her in reply. At least for now they could be happy."


End file.
